You mean Weston LaBarre, I presume? I think it's clear in the book why I think his ideas about shamanism are ludicrous fantasies, and especially the insistence -- that he shares with Schultes -- that hallucinogens are fundamental to shamanism in the Americas. Like Schultes', LaBarre's interest in psychoactive drugs was always closely tied to employment with U.S. government entities: LaBarre worked at the Menninger Clinic in the early 1940s; Dr. Menninger worked for the Army's Psychiatric Services Division and pioneered the use of convulsive therapies (some might say "therapies") for psychiatric illnesses. These guys were retroactively recast after the 1960s as pioneers of groovy mind expansion but they were both spooky creeps with a paid interest in top-down mind control.
Interesting, thanks, Andrew.
Found your book, Kathleen, glanced quickly, noted your grudge against Weston, a fav of mine:). Not sure what clenched your knickers from him?
Whatever, good to see the genderists tweaked by you.
Lloyd deMause a favorite, who debunks the anthropologists such as Mead who believe/d in the Peaceful Noble Savage, read him?
Oh, you might find Conspiracy Factists such as James Corbett as infuriating as Weston? I hope so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgrunnLcG9Q.
Get free, stay safe.
You mean Weston LaBarre, I presume? I think it's clear in the book why I think his ideas about shamanism are ludicrous fantasies, and especially the insistence -- that he shares with Schultes -- that hallucinogens are fundamental to shamanism in the Americas. Like Schultes', LaBarre's interest in psychoactive drugs was always closely tied to employment with U.S. government entities: LaBarre worked at the Menninger Clinic in the early 1940s; Dr. Menninger worked for the Army's Psychiatric Services Division and pioneered the use of convulsive therapies (some might say "therapies") for psychiatric illnesses. These guys were retroactively recast after the 1960s as pioneers of groovy mind expansion but they were both spooky creeps with a paid interest in top-down mind control.